
The start of the New Year means the return of a Philadelphia tradition, the Mummers parade.
After strutting their stuff on Broad Street, Mummers gathered back on "Two Street" Tuesday night to celebrate.
It was quite a celebration. Professional drag queens introduced the fancy brigades prior to their performances at the Pennsylvania Convention Center on Tuesday night.
While this year's parade may be history, the winners have all year to brag.
First place in the fancy brigade division went to the South Philly Vikings. It was Murray for the comics. Hog Island came out on top for the fancies.
And there was great news for the Fralinger String Band, the group burned out of their storage facility a few weeks ago. They won their division despite having some of their props damaged in that warehouse fire last month. Quaker City finished in second.
As Mummers strutted up Broad Street on Tuesday, families from all over lined the parade route to cheer them on.
FOX 29's Stephanie Salvatore reported that, with their elaborate floats and their trademark costumes, the Mummers started their strut in South Philly and made their way to the grandstand, entertaining thousands along the way.
The centuries-old parade brings the same folks back to Broad Street and still attracts first-timers.
From the comics to the fancies, the wenches and the string bands, the parade is something these groups work all year for, and it shows.
Thursday weather looks spectacular with mostly sunny skies and low humidity levels. A light jacket may be needed early in the day with lows in the 50s, but under sunny skies temperatures climb into the low 80s. Along the coast highs top out in the mid 70s. Winds will be out of the WSW 5-10 mph. High 83. Low 58.
June 19 is National Dine Out Day. Restaurants and vendors across the country are contributing a percentage of their revenues for the day to the NJ Relief Fund to benefit Superstorm Sandy victims.